The FUSION of Super and Mario

Who doesn't remember when the Mario Bros. first came out in arcade low-res 2D graphics in 1983? Wait a sec ... probably quite a few people now ;-) ...

It's all about the plumbers Mario and Luigi who have to fight of abdominal creatures crawling out of New York's sewers. The game was well received and has evolved considerably over time. The sequel called Super Mario Bros. came out in 1985 as a two player game for Nintendo gaming consoles. It remained one of the best selling video games of all time until it was outsold by Wii Sports, a sports game (and another Nintendo marketing masterpiece) for this increasing number of people who want peace of mind without actually doing sports.

Anyways, may I now present you the next generation of the game: Super Fusion Mario Bros.

Photo by MAT on Flickr, March 2011.

The boys did an awesome dance show at FUSION of York 2011, a charity fashion & dance performance that takes place every year around March time. I quite like the event as it is always an excellent excuse for taking pictures as you can see here.

For the keen folks, here are some more sources of information about the bros.

Mario Bros. at Nintendo.

Mario Bros. on Wikipedia.

Super Mario Bros. on Wikipedia.

Super Fusion Mario Bros. at York.

Happy Birthday Miss Jones!

Two days ago I re-discovered Grace Jones as an absolutely fantastic singer and performer. If there is anybody who thinks this woman is not hot then this somebody has no idea about anything ;-).

There are no words to describe the vast variety of things she has done (apparently long before anyone else), so here you go:





And here is yet another one, which is from a photographic point of view just awesome:




One older music video and a new one from 2008, here's the mojo ...





I actually looked for videos of Grace Jones on YouTube after I read that she said that she doesn't find Lady Gaga very innovative and that is she is not at all flattered when Gaga imitates her style. Don't worry about that Grace (not that I think she doesn't anyways ...)

Gypsy Rose Lee

Just found this great candid shot of Gypsy Rose Lee performing in a burlesque show when flicking through vintage photographs on the web.

Posted on Flickr by Joy Northrop, May 2010.

Before looking up Gypsy Rose Lee on all-knowing Wikipedia, I just thought: "Great candid shot of a gentlemen kindly helping out fixing the dress of one of the models at a fashion show!" After reading up a little bit on the woman in the picture, I learned that she was a very successful burlesque performer and actress (yes in movies for all audiences) in the early 40ies. Apparently, she was famous for her outstanding striptease act, which explains why the gentleman is so keen to help ;-), and was titled "the best undressed woman in the world (or the USA?)". In 1963, she actually played a role in a film called The Stripper, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design.

Enough to get curious about and I think it is an awesome shot, no matter what stage of undressing might have been reached later that night ...

Bollywood meets National Railway Museum

When wandering around in York on one of the sunny weekends we tend to have lately, I watched a promo performance of Indian dancers on the market square.

Photo by Martin A. Trefzer, March 2009.

They were pretty good and when I talked to them I learned that they are a dancing ensemble from Birmingham and that there will be an Indian culture festival at the National Railway Museum in York, UK (4-17th April 2009). Being interested in music and dance, particularly in taking pictures of such performances, I was glad to hear about the festival.

So I will definitely pay the NRM a visit and try to get some colourful shots of Bollywood coming to the National Railway Museum!

Check out my older post about a belly dance performance at a festival in York.